You would think that only a few years removed from playing in Friday night games all the time, college athletes could easily adjust to having one at the D1 level.

UNH had a bye this past weekend, which in theory should make it even easier, but the now 16th-ranked Wildcats have an anything-but-ordinary week.

Rick Santos’ 3-1 squad will make the long drive down from Durham on Friday with a stop along the way before kicking off  against the Crimson inside historic Harvard Stadium at 7 p.m.

Not only that, but the practice schedule is changed a bit this week too of course.

During his usual 10:20 a.m. spot in the weekly CAA coaches Zoom with the media, Santos talked about what lies ahead this week.

“The way our academic schedule works here, Monday is the day that typically well give those guys off and they focus strictly on their class schedule, so they’re all over the place in terms of when we have access to them,: he explained. “We practiced (Sunday) which would be our normal Tuesday practice. We solidified the first and second down game plan. Then, today, they usually lift on Sunday and then Tuesday, so today is really Tuesday because of the Friday night game in terms of our preparation. The guys are going to come in, find a way to get a lift in between their class schedule and then come back late at night and we’re going to get a walkthrough in.

“Just to make sure we’re kind of recapping some of the things we did (Sunday). So, it’s certainly a little bit different starting your weekly preparation on a Sunday, having a day off per say that you’re not practicing and then obviously, Tuesday will be the Wednesday preparation and so on.”

Dealing with New England traffic on Friday with kickoff hours away should be quite an interesting experience as well, which is why Santos and his staff are going to try and get creative with it.

“We’re going to drive down actually the day of because it’s a night game,” he said. “We’re going to go halfway down, park, get our team meal, get off the bus, roll out, stretch, walk through and then drive the rest of the way. So, certainly, we have to stay focused. It’s not anywhere near what our normal routine is, but at the end of the day, there’s some give and take to it, right? We have a couple extra days to prepare than they do and our routine is a little bit off. But, we’ll have the guys ready to roll.”

This fantastic New England showdown will be a historic one too. UNH and Harvard have not played in 80+ years despite being pretty close to each other, all things considered.

It’s something the Wildcats are fully embracing.

“Incredible opportunity,” said Santos. “The Ivy League’s been around for 150 years. It started football. Some of the most iconic venues and iconic institutions in the world, so, we were looking…in 150 years they’ve won 68% of their games. This is a team that has been a top – if not Top 3 in New England – for a long, long time at any level. They’re extremely well-coached, they’re disciplined. It’s an institution when you cross over in the recruiting battle and they have a commutable Harvard offer, you don’t really look at those guys anymore because they’re going to pick that school for the right reasons.

“They’re talented. Being in that conference for three years at Columbia, you see the type of student athletes they have access to. They’re getting three and four-star guys that have multiple offers that will choose a place like Harvard because of the academic reputation, the networking, what it’s going to do for their professional lives.

“We know how much of an incredible opportunity it is, but, how hard of a game it’s going to be. They’re physical, well-coached and extremely talented.”